Sunday, 6 October 2013

The blood sport of Mysore

The Vijayadashami, which
signifies the end of the Navaratri, brings thousands of tourists and pilgrims
to Mysore, to
watch the Jamboo Savari.

If the Jumbo Savari or Dasara
procession culminates the end of the Navaratri, there is another ritual, which when
it ends signals the commencement of the procession.

This is the highly brutal
blood sport of Vajra Musti or Musti Kalaga. Once a highly popular spot of Kings
and emperors and the high and might of India, it has lost out to modern
sports and to softer forms of physical games like boxing and wrestling.

True, a boxer or wrestler of
even a martial art expert might take
umbrage at the forgoing sentence but what they should remember is that in Vajra
Musti, the spurting of first blood on the forehead of an opponent celebrates
the victor.

This is perhaps the most
dangerous sport of all and make no mistake, it is as dangerous today as it was
centuries ago. The combatants are known as Gettis and this sport today is
confined within the Main palace
of Mysore.

The Vajra Musti bouts are
arranged in the beautiful wrestling courtyard of the main palace. Specially
treated mud is prepared for the event and it is brought in lorries to the
venue. The scion of the Wodeyar dynasty, Srikantadutta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, inaugurates
the event.

After the Musti ends, he
heralds the Dasara procession.

Coming back to the Vajra Musti,
it is one of the most feared of all ancient arts of India. In Mysore, it is performed only on Vijayadashmi and
that too to keep the ancient tradition alive.

The sport involves wrestlers
or jattis hitting each other with clinched fists. Whosoever draws blood first
is declared the winner and the contest is called off.

Unfortunately, this is a
private event and it is generally not open to the public, except through
invitation or special permission. Almost all the participants are from the
Jetti community and they fight out more for prestige and tradition than for prize
money.

The sport today is confined
only to Mysore
but centuries ago, it was popular in the Vijayanagar Empire. The Vijayanagar
Emperors were patrons of this art forms and they patronized many Jettis. Krishna Deva Raya was himself a renowned
wrestler and he won many bouts.

Ranadheera Kanteerava Wodeyar
was also a famous wrestler of his times. He was also proficient in many forms
of martial arts. There are several accounts of
this Wodeyar King personally participating in Kusti during Dasara when
Srirangapatna was the capital of the MysoreKingdom.

Jattis of Mysore who played
the blood sport were patronized by the Wodeyars and given high positions of power and prestige. Senior Jettis were designated
as Rajagurus and their services were commissioned for training princes and
kings in warfare and strategy.

Since Jettis had knowledge
about anatomy and were expert wrestlers,
they were given importance in the Mysore
court and they formed an integral part of the Maharaja’s inner circle.

The Jettis were not Kannadigas
and a majority of them hail from Delmal in Gujarat.
They are believed to have migrated to south during the 11th century. The first mention of
the Jetti is in Hoysala records.

Interestingly, both Hyder Ali
and Tiu Sultan were patrons of Vajra Musti. After the storming of Srirangapatna
in 1799, Vajra Musti lost its hue in Srirangapatna and Mysore took its place as the centre of Vajra
Musti.

The Jettis were supposed to
have taught Balarama, the brother of Krishna, the
art of wrestling. Balarama son became one of the greatest wrestlers of his
times.

Today, the blood sport is
almost dead and gone but for the annual Dasara event. The sport can easily
survive and even become popular provided our Government and the powers that be
took keen interest in preserving and nurturing a rich slice of our heritage.